Andrea Halverson is an educational leader who has worked in a variety of settings over the past 17 years. Before stepping into the Executive Director role, Andrea spent 7 years working as both an academic director and a school principal in charter schools. Her administrative work includes professional development, curriculum and assessment, intervention programming, state and federal reporting, and ELL programming.
Prior to moving into charter school administration, she spent time as a technology integration specialist and taught elementary and middle school music for nearly 10 years. She sat on both state and regional boards for music education groups and was a frequent presenter and local, state and regional music education conferences.
She holds a BA and MA from the University of St. Thomas in vocal music education and Kodaly Music Education. She also holds an Ed.S from Concordia University – St. Paul. She holds Minnesota licensure in K-12 music education, K-12 technology, and K-12 Principal. She is also a 2023 graduate of the Minnesota Principal Academy program.
Joanna Schneider was a founding first grade teacher at Northeast College Prep when the school opened in 2014 and this year is joining the NECP Leadership Team as the Dean of Students. Joanna brings 16 years of educational experience to this position, having most recently been a reading intervention teacher at NECP. Prior to reading intervention, Joanna was a lower elementary classroom teacher (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades) where she dedicated herself to building warm and peaceful learning communities with her students.
In addition to her teaching experience, Joanna also brings 13 years of charter school board experience to her role. Joanna began her board service at another Minneapolis charter school in 2010, serving there for four years before moving to NECP and serving as a member of the NECP Board of Directors for the past nine years. As a board member, Joanna had the opportunity to better understand the charter school landscape in the Twin Cities and gain valuable insight into strategic planning processes and the effect high level strategic decisions have on the day-to-day operations of a school.
Joanna received her B.S. in Elementary Education and Middle School Social Studies from Winona State University. She has been trained in Responsive Classroom (Core and Advanced Levels), The Catalyst Approach (formerly ENVoY Classroom Management Strategies), Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures, Phonics First: An Orton-Gillingham approach (Level 1), and CPI De-escalation Strategies.
When she’s not at school, Joanna enjoys traveling, reading, baking, and spending time with friends and family. She holds tightly to her Wisconsin roots and loves cheering on the Packers (especially when they play the Vikings)!